Fundamentals: History

Question 1

Which trading civilisation first arrived in the Iberian peninsula? When?

Answer 1

Phoenicians
About 3,000 years ago (1,000 BCE)

Question 2

What style of wine did the Phoenicians make?

Answer 2

Strong, sweet, able to travel

Question 3

When did the Romans arrive in Iberia? How did they get along with the others?

Answer 3

3C BCE
They brought their longstanding rivalry with the Carthaginians. Romans invaded the south, overrunning the Phonicians and Carthaginians, then marched north and east.

Question 4

How long did it take for the Romans to conquer the Iberian peninsula? What did they call it? How did this prepare Iberia for Christianity?

Answer 4

About 170 years.
Hispania
They united it under the Latin language, which became the official language of the church headquartered in Rome.

Question 5

The Roman invasion introduced winemaking. What were their fermentation vessels. What did they call their vinification method, how did it work, and what sort of wine did it produce?

Answer 5

Stone troughs

vinum ceretensis:
Boil grape must to reduce and concentrate it, add it to fermenting must. Produces strong, sweet, stable wine for ageing and transport across the Roman empire.

Question 6

Who defeated the Visigoths and when?

Answer 6

711: Moors cross the Strait of Gibraltar and defeat the Visigoth king Roderic at Guadalete near Jerez.

Question 7

What did the Moors call their conquered territory?

Answer 7

Al-Andalus

Question 8

When did the Moorish occupation of Iberia start and end?

Answer 8

711 - 1492

Question 9

Where and when were the Moors finally defeated?

Answer 9

1492
Granada

Question 10

How far north did the Moors control the Iberian peninsula?

Answer 10

Rio Duero (Duero river)

Question 11

Alcohol is restricted under Islam. What effect did the Moors have on viticulture and winemaking?

Answer 11

Viticulture continued for raisins, medicine and perfume.
Wine production slowed but did not stop. Very little was exported. And wine was taxed.

Question 12

What was the name of the sweet wine from the southern Iberian peninsula, enjoyed by everyone including the Muslims during the Al-Andalus period?

Answer 12

nabibi

Question 13

What happened when the local caliph ordered the destruction of the Jerez vineyards?

Answer 13

Vineyard owners argued that raisin production was needed for Islamic troops going on jihad. One third of vineyards survived.

Question 14

Name three boosters to wine culture during the Al-Andalus period

Answer 14

Christians reclaimed the peninsula as the Reconquista progressed, using wine in ceremonies.

Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.

Source of calories.

Question 15

Which group of Roman Catholic monks, from where, arrived and expanded in the 12C? Name four quality improvements they introduced to wine production?

Answer 15

Cistercians
based in Burgundy

Choice of best soils and sites for viticulture.
Extended maceration for grape must.
Keeping barrels full to slow oxidation.
Creating wine cellars for constant temperature.

Question 16

In the early 12C, which foreign king traded what product in return for ‘sherish’ wine? What was the wine also known as, where was it from, and what was it (probably) like? Which king was continuing this in the mid 14C?

Answer 16

Henry I of England
traded wool
for sherish / sherries sack / sack
from Jerez de la Frontera
very sweet, unfortified wine
King Edward III

Question 17

In which year did which 15C marriage unite most of the Iberian peninsila?
What title were they given, by whom?

Answer 17

1469
Ferdinand II of Aragón
Isabella I of Castile

‘Catholic Monarchs’
by Pope Alexander VI

Question 18

Who issued several ordinances in the 14C related to wine trade, vineyard cultivation, and harvest dates?

Answer 18

Don Juan Manuel
14C ruler of Peñafiel (Ribera del Duero)

Question 19

What three things did Ferdinand and Isabella do in 1492?

Answer 19

Defeat the Moors at Granada.
Start the Spanish Inquisition.
Authorise Christopher Columbus’s voyage west.

Question 20

In the 16-17C, the Spanish empire was one of the largest in world history. The wine trade grew too. In the early 16C, how much of the cargo space, on ships heading west to Central and South America was allocated to wine? Mostly from where?

Answer 20

One third
Jerez

Question 21

In the 16C, while Spain’s empire was booming, wines from Rioja were transported to which ports for export through which country’s traders?

Why was Rioja wine so good?

Answer 21

Bilbao, Santander
Dutch and English

Rioja had regulations limiting production to local grapes and establishing quality.

Question 22

In the 17C, wine exports were doing well. But which parts of Spain did best, and which struggled?

Answer 22

Coastal areas did well
Inland areas struggled

Question 23

What problem with the style of export wine was solved by the Dutch in the 17C? Leading to what industry?

Answer 23

Wines had short shelf lives, low in alcohol and tannin. The Dutch introduced fortification as a preservative, and distilleries sprang up in southern Spain.

Question 24

In the 17C, wine merchants from which five nations established themselves in Jerez?

Answer 24

Dutch
English
Irish
Scottish
French

Question 25

When were the Carlist Wars, how many, what were they about? What impact did it have on winemaking?

Answer 25

Three civil wars in 19C
Competing claims to the throne. Also liberalism vs the Carlist supporters of the Catholic Church and autocratic monarchy. Also autonomy of Basques and Catalans. Many winemakers fled to France where they learned quality winemaking techniques.

Question 26

The 19C was economically hard for Spain. How did the wine industry fare?

Answer 26

Fine - they carried on. Exports grew as railways were built. Rioja improved quality.

Question 27

Which three railways linked inland wine producing areas with coastal ports in the 19C?

Answer 27

Andalucía 1854: Jerez to Puerto de Santa María
Rioja: Logroño to Bilbao
Madrid to Irun (País Vasco)

Question 28

What is the story of Marqués de Murrieta?

Answer 28

In mid-19C, General Baldomero Espartero (a winery owner) and his aide Colonel Luciano Murrieta were living in London and discussed how to modernise Rioja’s wine industry to compete in the British wine market.

Murrieta had learned winemaking techniques in Bordeaux. On return to Spain, he:
introduced large vats for crushing and fermentation to reduce heat and oxidation;
re-introduced small oak barrels.

Quality improved. He was named ‘Marqués de Murrieta’. The winery of the same name continues today as one of the oldest in Rioja.

Question 29

What is the story of small oak barrels not catching on in Rioja the first time around?

Answer 29

In 18C, Don Manuel Quintano was a young priest in a grape-growing family in Álava who studied in Bayonne (French Basque country). Interested in Bordeaux winemaking techniques, he went there in 1785-86, learning particularly about racking for clarification and ageing in oak barrels.

But Rioja legislation dictated uniform prices for export wines. Although the wines were good and age-worthy, his practices were too costly and abandoned for almost a century.

Question 30

When and where did powdery mildew strike?

Answer 30

1850s Galicia
Less impact in drier Rioja and Ribera del Duero.
(it thrives in high humidity and moderate temperatures)

Question 31

What proportion of European vineyards were destroyed by phylloxera?

Answer 31

An estimated two-thirds. Many were never replanted.

Question 32

France was especially hard hit by phylloxera. How did the industry respond in:
France
Rioja

Answer 32

The French bought wine from northern Spain and Italy. Some Spanish wine was quietly blended and sold as Bordeaux.

Rioja restricted export to France, banning smaller bodegas (< 750,000 L/yr) from exporting. So only large bodegas benefited.

French winemakers tried to control quality by moving to Spain, mainly Rioja, also Ribera del Duero, Navarra, Cataluña. They brought technical expertise and investment capital.

Question 33

While France was ravaged by phylloxera, and French winemakers set up shop in Spain, name five bits of knowhow that came with them?

Answer 33

Planting strategies.
Machinery.
Technology such as temperature controlled fermentation.
225 L oak barrels from Bordeaux.
Grapes (e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, some still in Rioja and Ribera del Duero).

Question 34

What is the origin story of Vega Sicilia?

Answer 34

1864: Don Eloy Lecanda y Chaves bought cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Merlot. He planted them at Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero and expertly blended them with Spanish grapes.

He won many awards worldwide and Vega Sicilia is iconic today.

Question 35

What is the origin story of Spanish sparkling wine?

Answer 35

1860s: Josep Raventós i Fatjó was promoting still Codorníu wines across Europe. He visited Champagne and thought Spain could do something similar.

Phylloxera destroyed (mostly red grape) vineyards in Penedès, Cataluña. They were replanted with indigenous white grapes, and in 1872 Raventós created the first Spanish sparkling wine.

Question 36

When did phylloxera reach Spain? What effect did it have?

Answer 36

late 19C to early 20C. It was one of the last places in Europe, so the solution was known and the remedy was swift (if the locals could afford it). Vines were pulled up and replaced with European vitis vinifera grafted onto American vitis labrusca. Growers were more selective about varieties, quality increased, in many cases so did quantity.

1879 Cataluña
mid 1880s Castilla y León
1891 Las Islas Baleares
1894 Jerez
1899 Rioja
1907 Valencia
1914 Madrid

Question 37

What happened to Spanish wine exports after World War I?

Answer 37

Many countries prohibited alcohol and stopped buying Spanish wine.

Question 38

Which was the first Consejo Regulador, in which year?

Answer 38

Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Jerez-Xérèz-Sherry

1932

Question 39

When was the first supervisory body of Rioja created, how and when did it become active?

Answer 39

1926
Royal Decree
mid-1950s

Question 40

In the mid 1930s, which regions were on the up? Why were the others not?

Answer 40

Rioja
Jerez-Xérèz-Sherry

Suffering from 19C economic downturns caused by vineyard plagues, politics/war, and lack of access to export markets and ports

Question 41

What impact did Franco’s rule have on winemaking?

Answer 41

He reduced access to foreign investment. Vineyards were abandoned or converted to other crops (especially in Cataluña and Valencia). His belief that wine was sacramental decimated white wine production; he ordered top vineyards to be removed. Quality dropped, bulk wine dominated through co-operatives.

Question 42

Give two examples of names under which bulk Spanish wine was sold under Franco

Answer 42

Spanish Sauternes
Spanish Chablis

Question 43

When during Franco’s rule were new wine appellations created? Which areas prospered, and how?

Answer 43

1960s

Sherry’s exports grew 1950-78.
Rioja declared a ‘vintage of the century’ in 1970, and its DO regulations were approved same year.

Question 44

When did Franco die? What was different for winemaking in the years up to his death?

Answer 44

20 Nov 1975

Modernisation, quality, vineyards replanted, liberalisation, tourism.

Question 45

Where and when was drip irrigation pioneered in Spain? When did irrigation become legal, and why?

Answer 45

Marqués de Griñón estate in Toledo in the 1940s.
1996
Droughts of 1994 and 1995.

Question 46

Which regions in Spain do not cultivate wines and produce quality wines?

Answer 46

All regions in Spain cultivate vines and produce quality wines.

Question 47

What percentage of Spain’s vineyard is suitable for PDO quality wine?

Answer 47

85%